For The Ones Left Behind

31 Days of Good Deeds

~ Day 3 ~

We hear these stories too often.  The ones about warriors lost.

The times I have looked upon sleeping children and slumbering babies, and prayed hard for their daddy to come home… unharmed… are more than I can recall. The times imagined into stomach sickening fear of the knock at the door have been more frequent than I want to remember.

The truth is… it is real.  For too many of us.  We have lost friends, spouses of friends, and neighbors of friends. Some of us have lost… everything.  We have lost too many close to our hearts, and always in our thoughts.

The truth is… there are many we pass every day for whom the dread and the imagined nightmare has become a reality.

A friend who lost her husband in Iraq eight years ago marks the milestones by keeping his memory alive for her children.  She is a warrior.

Many faces around us are struggling just to make it to the next moment.  Their families have sacrificed… everything.

This story is from the wife and mom of military men.  It reminds me to open my eyes and look around. Thank you, Beth, for sharing your husband’s story…

Beth and I returned home today from an FRG training course in Kansas City, Mo. We were standing in baggage claim at O’Hare airport waiting for our bags and we saw a female standing across the conveyor. She had a stroller with a child, a car seat, and two very large suitcases. You would think, looking at her, that she was just waiting for her husband to come help. We watched for a minute as she struggled with all her bags. Beth then looked at me and I said, “okay,” and walked over to offer my assistance. She accepted, handed off the bags, and we walked out. She asked if this was my home post or if I was traveling through. She then mentioned her husband was a Marine. She asked me what I did, so I told her as we walked out to the curb so she could wait for her ride. I set the bags down, she thanked me, and I told her, “not a problem.”

She looked me in the eye then, and told me her husband was recently killed in a training exercise. This was her first time traveling. I was stunned. I said, “I’m so sorry for your loss, Ma’am,” and walked back to baggage claim.

I believe that Beth and I were there to see her struggles and to be there to offer assistance. It was God’s will. My one regret is not asking her husband’s name, so I could say a prayer for him. So I will just have to say one for all the fallen.

~ SGT Stiff